After Sebasu took Ryouma to the appointed area, Rheinbach and the others talked about Ryouma. Before they could finish their discussion, Sebasu came back. When Shiva saw that, he quickly went to prepare.
Quickly entering his room, he gazed deeply at the halberd he was using during his service, and the armor he bought after retiring. Then he said to himself,
“How strong is that boy I wonder… Judging from his movements alone, I know that he’s skilled, but as to what extent, I don’t know. From what Rheinbach said, he’s not an opponent I could take lightly… How despicable, truly. That my body would age so.” [Shiva]
When he resigned, he could still fully fulfill his duties. But although people tried to stop him from resigning, he was resolute in his decision.
At the time, he had already begun to find his once favorite halberd that he swung with ease, gradually becoming heavier. It was only through arduous training in qigong that he eventually learned how to swing it as he did before. His worsening skill was the painful mark of age.
And in the end, he resigned as soon as he finished raising a successor.
After retiring, he did everything he could to keep himself from getting dull, and from getting older. He toiled against age, but no matter how hard he worked, he knew he couldn’t overcome it. And he would spend the nights drinking away his feelings.
Remiri who was listening while lying down said,
“The flow of time is like that. Everyone’s the same, you, me, there’s nothing else to it but to accept it. But the more prepared you are for it, the more accepting you’ll be. Shiva-chan, if you let your mind wander, you’ll grow old quickly.” [Remiri]
Said Remiri to Shiva. The sort of philosophy you’d expect from a race with long life like the dark elves.
Shiva smiled bitterly when he remembered those words.
“Seriously, Remiri… It’s hard to tell your age with you being a dark elf, I wonder if you even actually age at all. I don’t know exactly how old you are… But it’s most likely close to double mine. Yet your body hasn’t changed one bit since we first met. Your movements haven’t slowed one bit either. Even if you tell me you’re aging; I don’t see it one bit.
Swallowing my pride, I once asked her if she had a secret. And she just replied, “Because my heart’s young.” What’s that supposed to mean? No, even if I talk about this now, nothing will change. Right now, I should just focus on my spar with Ryouma.” [Shiva]
He cast away all his worldly thoughts, steeled himself for the upcoming spar, and finished his preparations. Then together with Remiri and Rheinbach, they teleported with Sebasu-san’s dimension magic, passed through the gate, and teleported a second time. The rocky place where the mock match would take place appeared, but for some reason, a part of the land has been levelled. And a great number of slimes were there, surrounding Ryouma. Shiva and the others then went to take a closer look.
“Thank you for this opportunity, Shiva-san.” [Ryouma]
“Same, let’s have a good spar. By the way, what’s up with the ground and these slimes?” [Shiva]
“The slimes are my slave demons. And the ground, I levelled with my magic for our spar. I figured it’d be better to have an area that’s closer to the ones in the training grounds.” [Ryouma]
“Oh, thank you for that. Do you have enough magic power left?” [Shiva]
“Don’t worry, the slimes were the one who used earth magic to level the ground.” [Ryouma]
“I see. Then as for the rules of this spar, the rules of the knight ceremony should be fine, right?” [Shiva]
“How does that work?” [Ryouma]
“We’ll each be fighting with real weapons in a one on one. And either side can use magic up to the intermediate level. In other words, it’s a real fight. You can use even magic weapons if you want; I don’t mind. It’d normally be dangerous without a healer, but fortunately, Remiri is here, so there’s nothing to worry on that front.” [Shiva]
“I can use healing magic all the way to the advanced level. Even if your limbs are cut off, as long as it’s immediately, I can put it back. So don’t worry, alright?” [Remiri]
Ryouma was surprised when he heard that, but he quickly understood, and then asked a question regarding the rules.
“Regarding the weapons…” [Ryouma]
As Ryouma said that, he had the weapon he was using split into slimes, and then back in to a single blade again. Then he continued,
“The weapon I’m using is like this, so… Is this still within the rules of one on one?” [Ryouma]
Shiva thought a bit, then he said,
“It’s my first time seeing someone use slimes as a weaopn, but… This is a match to see the extent of your abilities. If you’re using that as a weapon, then there’s no problem. But using the slimes themselves to attack is a breach of rules.” [Shiva]
“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]
With the rules decided, the two fighters gripped their weapons, and walked towards each other over the ring (levelled ground). In between the two of them was Sebasu-san, the referee. Then with Sebasu-san’s ‘Fight!’ the match began.
“… Fight!” [Sebasu]
“Fu!!” [Shivas]
As the signal resounded, Shiva quickly thrusted his halberd to test Ryouma. But Ryouma dodged that, and he closed the distance between them. Shiva wasn’t going to let him do that, so he lifted his halberd up, and attacked with its handle. But Ryouma dodged again, and this time, he fired a ‘Fire Arrow’ towards Shiva. Dodging that, the former knight commander, shot back with his own.
The battlefield quickly turned into an exchange of fire arrows and clanging metal, but the two fighters have yet to show their full might. They were still measuring each other up.
If the people fighting were anyone else, Sebasu and the others would have a hard time believing the fight before them to be a mere warm up.
Marks of the fighting could be seen in the ground around the two as fierce fighting continued at its center. The continuing sound of clanging metal and crashing magic showed just how fierce the battle was. Not one bit of the fight resembled a mere warm up.
In truth, the two were already fighting at a pace such that normal soldiers or adventurers would have a hard time seeing their crossing swords. The only ones who would think those shooting arrows of magic and thrusting halberd to be nothing but a warmup, were Shiva and Ryouma. If it was a normal soldier, he would have been pierced without even having the time to react. A normal soldier wouldn’t be able to dodge and fight back. And likewise, a normal soldier wouldn’t be able to stop Ryouma’s counterattacks either. Such a thing is impossible for them. Shiva and Ryouma fought at a level so high, normal soldiers wouldn’t be able to do anything but watch and wait.